Beyond Special

Greg had an incredible talent for making anyone he connected with feel like they were one of the most amazing, cherished and special people in his life. You can see that generosity of spirit in every picture of him – he is almost invariably holding his friends and family close with a smile that fills your heart. You could hear his passion and humor and love of connection in every animated conversation over a beer, in every Facebook post and comment, in every belly-deep laugh. And of course, anyone could feel it in a great Greg bear hug.

All of it was 100% genuine and true – we were all cherished by him and, because of that, I think whenever I was in his presence (virtually or in person), I became convinced that I might actually be as amazing as he told me I was. What a gift that was and will continue to be for me, and I suspect for anyone else who knew him well. No matter how long it had been since I had seen or chatted with Greg or how far away we were physically, every interaction with him was filled with joy and love.

For someone who was already that full of life and happiness, to see him when he found out he was going to be a dad was a revelation. He was giddy with joy. Having lost touch with Greg some after we graduated from Rice, I was so grateful when Facebook allowed us to reconnect. I found a message I’d sent Greg when he first posted about Melissa being pregnant with Ben:

“I honestly went to sleep with a huge smile on my face last night. There are just some people in the world who are meant to be parents and you are absolutely one of them. If I didn’t have you on FB, I wouldn’t get to be excited about a Baby Kahn or even know that you had found such an awesome, gorgeous, funny wife. Instead, I’d have to read a sheepish entry in the Rice Owlmanac six years down the road when you posted a ‘long overdue’ baby picture and talked about how your son was now entering 1st grade.

You’re TOTALLY going to have this parenting thing in the bag, I promise. And keep me posted on the name hunt (which was so much harder than I ever anticipated it could be – 9 months to come up with a few syllables? REALLY??). BTW, I personally really like Steve Holt!” (NOTE TO BEN: Go watch the entire series of Arrested Development when you’re old enough to see how narrowly you escaped being called Steve instead of Ben… And there are probably a host of other pop culture references we could direct you to that would give you insight into your dad’s awesome sense of humor as well.)

Mostly Ben, I hope you both know how amazing and cherished and special you & your mom were to your dad. You both brought him so much joy, just as he did to all of us.